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Brigham Young Cougars
Brigham Young University The BYU Cougars men's basketball team represents Brigham Young University in NCAA Division I basketball play. Established in 1902, the team has won 30 conference championships and 2 NIT Tournaments (1951 & 1966), and competed in 26 NCAA Tournaments. It has competed in the West Coast Conference since the 2011-2012 season. History BYU fielded its first basketball team in 1903. In 1906, the Cougars played their first game against Utah State University; in 1909, the team first played against the University of Utah. These two rivalries continue to this day. In its 104-year history, BYU's basketball program has won 1,501 games, ranking 22nd among all Division I programs. 83 of the school's 104 basketball teams have had winning records. The Cougars won the first of their 26 conference championships in 1919 as a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Cougars would make the first of their 24 NCAA Tournament appearances in 1950 under legendary head coach Stan Watts. That Cougars came within one point of reaching the national semifinals. BYU's 1951 team was even more successful, winning 28 games and once again qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. In addition, the 1951 team won the first of two NIT championships for the school, which was considered an equal or greater national tournament compared to the NCAA until the mid 1950's. The Cougars defeated AP #9 AP St. Johns, AP #10 St. Louis and AP #13 Dayton to win the title. Notable players on that team include: Mel Hutchins, who was taken #2 in the 1951 NBA draft, was named the 1951-52 NBA co-rookie of the year and became a 5-time NBA All-Star with the Pistons and the Knicks; Roland Minson, who was drafted #16 overall in the 1951 NBA draft; and Loren C. Dunn, a future general authority in the LDS Church. The Cougars would go on to make five more appearances in the NCAA Tournament under Watts, and win their second NIT championship in 1966, although by that time the overall prestige of the NIT had fallen considerably. Under Watts, BYU also became the first U.S. college basketball program to include an international player on its roster, as Finland native Timo Lampen debuted in the 1958-59 season. Later, BYU's Kresimir Cosic, born in Yugoslavia (modern-day Croatia), became the first international player to be named an All-American. His jersey was retired in the Marriott Center in March 2006 in the last home game of the season against the New Mexico Lobos.Source: http://www.byucougars.com/basketball_m/media/2006I.pdf Watts retired as the winningest coach in BYU history. After Watts's retirement following the 1972 season, the program experienced five consecutive losing seasons from 1974 through 1978 before returning to the NCAA Tournament in 1979 behind Danny Ainge and coach Frank Arnold. The Cougars reached the Final Eight, one game short of the Final Four, in 1981, Ainge's senior season. That season, Ainge won the Wooden Award as the nation's most outstanding player. Arnold left following the 1983 season and was replaced by LaDell Andersen, who had several successful seasons in the 1980s, including the 1987-88 season when the Cougars rose as high as #2 in the national rankings on their way to a 26-6 season. Andersen then resigned following a 14-15 season in 1989.Source: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEFDC1731F93BA25750C0A96F948260 He was replaced by Roger Reid, who guided the Cougars to 20-win seasons in each of his first six years and five NCAA Tournament appearances. Reid was fired in the middle of the 1996-97 season after a 1-6 start. Part of his firing had to do with a private comment Reid made to Chris Burgess, then considered the top high school player in the nation and a Mormon whose father had attended BYU; Reid suggested that Burgess had let down the entire LDS church by choosing to attend Duke rather than BYU.Source: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20050510/ai_n14620673 Assistant coach Tony Ingle coached the team on an interim basis for the rest of the season and did not win a game; the Cougars' 1-25 record was easily the worst in school history. Following the season, Steve Cleveland was hired as the new head coach and returned the Cougars to prominence. In 2001, the Cougars won the MWC regular season and tournament championships, making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1995. After the 2004-05 season, Cleveland resigned to become the head coach at Fresno State; he was replaced by Dave Rose. Dave Rose, co-captain of Houston's 1983 "Phi Slama Jama" college basketball team, began the first of six straight 20-win seasons in 2005-05. Rose and assistant Dave Rice continued BYU's successful recruiting with the addition of All-American Jimmer Fredette in 2007 and DeMarcus Harrison in 2011. In June 2009 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and returned to coaching later that year. In 2010, Rose coached BYU to their first NCAA tournament victory in 17 years in a double-overtime win against the University of Florida. The following year, BYU made further inroads as a #3 seed when they advanced to the Sweet 16. Coaches .]] Record Book All-Americans *Elwood Romney (1931–32) *Mel Hutchins (1951) *Joe Richey (1953) *John Fairchild (1965) *Dick Nemelka (1966) *Kresimir Cosic (1972–73) *Danny Ainge (1980–81) (Wooden Award winner, 1981) *Devin Durrant (1984) *Michael Smith (1988) *Jimmer Fredette (2010–11) Conference Players of the Year *John Fairchild (1965) *Danny Ainge (1981) *Devin Durrant (1983) *Timo Saarelainen (1985) *Michael Smith (1988) *Mekeli Wesley (2001) *Rafael Araújo (2004) *Keena Young (2007) *Lee Cummard (2008) *Jimmer Fredette (2011) Individual Records *'Points scored, single game': 52, Jimmer Fredette, March 11, 2011 vs. New Mexico *'Points scored, season': 1068, Jimmer Fredette, 2011 *'Points scored, career': 2599, Jimmer Fredette, 2008-11 *'Field goals made, single game': 22, Jimmer Fredette, March 11, 2011 vs. New Mexico *'Field goals made, season': 346, Jimmer Fredette, 2010-2011 *'Field goals made, career': 987, Danny Ainge, 1978-81 *'Three-point field goals made, single game': 9, Jimmer Fredette, December 28, 2009 vs. Arizona *'Three-point field goals made, season': 124, Jimmer Fredette, 2011 *'Three-point field goals made, career': 296, Jimmer Fredette, 2008-11 *'Free throws made, single game': 23, Jimmer Fredette, March 11, 2010 vs. TCU *'Free throws made, season': 252, Jimmer Fredette, 2011 *'Free throws made, career': 627, Jimmer Fredette, 2008-11 *'Rebounds, single game': 27, Scott Warner, December 18, 1969 vs. Texas Tech *'Rebounds, season': 471, Mel Hutchins, 1951 *'Rebounds, career': 922, Michael Smith, 1984, 1987-89 *'Assists, single game': 16, Mike May, December 11, 1976 vs. Niagara *'Assists, season': 217, Matt Montague, 2002 *'Assists, career': 570, Matt Montague, 1997, 2000-02 *'Steals, single game': 9, Mark Bigelow, November 28, 1998 vs. Arizona *'Steals, season': 101, Jackson Emery, 2011 *'Steals, career': 249, Jackson Emery, 2006, 2009-11 *'Blocked shots, single game': 14, Shawn Bradley, December 7, 1990 vs. Eastern Kentucky *'Blocked shots, season': 177, Shawn Bradley, 1991 *'Blocked shots, career': 208, Greg Kite, 1980–83 Roster External Links *Official athletics site Category:NCAA Division I schools Category:Schools in Utah Category:West Coast Conference members